DETAILED ACTION
AUTOMATIC CLEANING DEVICE
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 07-23-2026 has been entered. Claims 1-22 are currently pending and have been examined. Applicant’s amendments overcome 102 and 103 rejection and double patenting rejection for claims 1-21 previously set forth in the Final Office action mailed 05-27-2026.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 07-23-2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of US Patent 11957285 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakanishi (US5815880A) cited in IDS in view of Fan (CN204500545U).
Regarding claim 22, Nakanishi teaches a mobile platform (figures 1,5-7; col 3 lines 5-20 and col 4 lines 11-35) configured to automatically move in a target direction on a surface to be cleaned, the mobile platform having a bottom surface;a wet-mode cleaning module (3, figure 9) comprising a cleaning-head (col 3 lines 1-5 and col 3 lines 29-35), a distance between the cleaning-head and the bottom surface of the mobile platform being adjustable; and a lifting mechanism (4, figure 12) configured to drive, via a linear driving mechanism (14, figure 13), the cleaning- head to move to thereby adjust the distance between the cleaning-head and the bottom surface of the mobile platform;wherein when the linear driving mechanism moves in a direction, the distance between the cleaning-head and the bottom surface of the mobile platform is increased (figure 5; col 7 lines 1-20); and when the linear driving mechanism moves in another direction reverse to said direction, the distance between the cleaning-head and the bottom surface of the mobile platform is decreased (figure 5; col 7 lines 1-20);
Nakanishi fails to teach an elastic support structure is arranged at the cleaning-head and configured to urge the cleaning-head to abut against the surface to be cleaned.
Fan discloses a robotic cleaner that has a reciprocating oscillating motion where the cleaner (abstract) has a cleaner head (2, figures 1-3) with an elastic support structure (8, figure 2) that is arranged at the cleaning-head and configured to urge the cleaning-head to abut against the surface to be cleaned.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Nakanishi to include an elastic support structure is configured to urge the cleaning-head to abut against the surface to be cleaned based on the teachings of Fan. This modification would help apply constant or predetermined pressured and help improve the cleaning effect (see Fan).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-21 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 1-12, filed 07-23-2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-21 under U.S.C. 102 and U.S.C .103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Fan (CN204500545U) for claim 22.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SARAH AKYAA FORDJOUR whose telephone number is (571)272-0390. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 9:30am - 5:30pm and Friday 6:00am-3:00pm.
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/SARAH AKYAA FORDJOUR/Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/MONICA S CARTER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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